From there, a semblance of normalcy returned. With Beanos erased, and the planar rift centered within Twilight Sparkle closed for good, the irrational bean-mania sweeping the globe faded almost overnight. Sunset’s fellow mecha pilots managed to beat back the Acers and survive the space dogfight unharmed. Those afflicted by Beanos’ brainwashing found the vines intruding upon their psyches withering away, leaving them no worse for wear. All of the would-be overlord’s works of destruction - from the seed rifles up to the mighty Fathership - were dismantled. The beandroids were purged, and all existing Beanis Inc assets were given away as reparations to those most affected, the company shut down. Finally, any remaining beanis products were allowed to stick around, but no longer were they treated as anything other than simple sex toys for occational use, their addictive magic lost.
Only a few people actually died during the whole ordeal, thankfully. And most of those were accidental, due to the worldwide hysteria. Moreover, the authorities were unable to actually confirm that Beanos was Twilight, given the vast changes to her appearance. Otherwise, she probably would have ended up in prison for life, or forced to flee to Equestria.
Small, private funerals were held for Sonata and Moondancer, the former tragically escaping her curse of an immortal life only after regaining her magic, the latter reunited at last with her beloved. Adagio and Aria actually mourned, and so did Moondancer’s peers in her semi-secret society. And life went on.
Tempest and Wallflower got hitched in a touching ceremony. Even though she prevented the apocalyptic future she grew up in, the truths of multiverse theory meant Tempest didn’t, say, abruptly fade out of existence when walking down the aisle. Boy, it sure would have sucked for Wallflower if that had happened. As it stood, they moved out into the country, where they could live the rest of their lives surrounded by the tranquil beauty of nature. Luna, too, disappeared, though without fanfare and as mysteriously as she’d arrived.
Meanwhile, Starlight had coerced human Trixie to go back with her to live in Equestria, where they quickly entered an extremely successful polyamorous relationship with mare Trixie. Trixie did love herself very deeply, after all, much to Princess Twilight’s disgust.
Even Flash and Somnambula eventually found their relationship growing deeper, and they formally pledged their love for eachother, undertaking an unholy ritual to bind their immortal souls together for eternity. Not another wedding - they eloped - but actual dark rites facilitated by Sunset, with a pentagram drawn from lamb’s blood and everything.
Sunset, for her part, was more than content, gladly putting this whole Beanis saga behind her. Now with plenty of time to restructure her life, she was able to take better care of herself, among many other improvements large and small. Sunset got to just… enjoy being again. Spending time with her friends when they weren’t liable to strip naked and start moaning at the drop of a hat was a luxury deeply missed, totally worth trading her magic. The one downside is that she wasn’t obscenely wealthy in Beanis Inc stocks anymore, but they were working on that right now.
“Hey, Sunset, can you pass me that ultrasonic welder when you’re done with it?” Twilight asked, kneeling in front of a section of their latest project’s soon-to-be interior.
“Sure thing,” Sunset replied with a grin, busy using it to fuse two plastic plates for the shoulder of the mecha together. Since this one wouldn’t be seeing actual combat, and their budget was tight, they were using hard plastic for this new machine. The engineering challenge was part of the fun. “How’re things looking on your end?”
“Great, actually. All the controls are wired up now, same as the others,” Twilight confirmed. She patted the electrical housing with pride.
“Awesome work,” Sunset said.
As if summoned by her favorite word, Rainbow Dash chose that moment to zip over to them. “Hey, you two, how’s it going?”
Sunset looked up to where Rainbow stood by the mouth of the garage they were working out of at the moment, meeting her eyes. “It’s all slowly but surely coming together. How about you, got the sound mixing for that last scene all done?”
“Of course!” she confirmed. “I wouldn’t be here to say hi if it wasn’t. I had to take a break for a bit, though. Shy called me over; Little T said her first word!”
“Wow, that’s great!” Sunset beamed, picturing the adorable scene in her head. Twilight, too, was all smiles. “What was it?”
“‘Mommy’. I was expecting it to be ‘boom’ or something, but what can ya do?” Dash answered with a shrug.
“It’s probably for the best,” Twilight giggled.
Rainbow acquiesced with a nod. “Heh, yeah. Still, I can’t believe how much I missed working on music, ya know?”
“I know the feeling,” Sunset confirmed. “I assume you wanna go check on everybody else; can I come with you?”
“Sure!”
Turning around to face her bestie, Sunset passed her the welder. “Be back in bit, Twilight.”
She accepted the tool gratefully. “I want all the details when you get back!”
With a quick wave goodbye for now, Sunset followed Rainbow over a short ways away to where everybody else was getting ready. They were doing a major fight scene today - the one-v-one climax of the movie - so everything had been moved to an outdoors set in a section of Canterlot not fully repaired yet. At its edge, various pieces of equipment had been set up, from mikes and cameras to a medium-sized trailer and catering table.
Applejack stood by the latter, grilling up a fresh batch of her signature burgers - with apple slices and brie - for the hungry crew. She shook her head as Dash snatched one up the instant it was put in a bun. “If it isn’t our favorite rock musician. Need me to critique your latest composition?”
“Later,” she replied, before taking a big bite of her food and chewing rapidly. “Sunset and I are making the rounds.”
“How’re you?” Sunset asked.
“I’m dandy, Sunset. Big Mac, too, now that I’m back at Sweet Apple Acres half the time again.” Then, she snorted. “He might actually be going soft!”
Before either of them could reply, though, the sound of a door thunking open drew their attention. It was Rarity and Aria, leaving the trailer. Aria was almost unrecognizable, courtesy of Rarity’s expert makeup work and costuming. She had her hair down, and wore a feminine yet futuristic dress that made her look like a beautiful alien princess. Which, as it so happened, was the role she was playing.
Dash let out a wolf-whistle. “Damn, Aria, lookin’ good.”
“She’s looked like that almost every day we’ve been filming, Dash,” Sunset pointed out, before Aria could say anything.
“Still merits repeating,” Dash nodded, time spent with Twilight having added to her vocabulary over the years.
Still, it was Rarity who spoke first. She gave Dash a look as she placed her hands on Aria’s shoulder’s protectively. “I know I’m good at what I do, darling, but save it for Fluttershy.”
Rainbow’s brows rose. “Oh, come on, it should be a compliment!”
Aria just smirked with a hand on her hip as the two of them dove into a good-natured argument, with Applejack stepping over to try and mediate. Smiling and shaking her head, Sunset continued on without her, moving over to where Pinkie, Adagio, and Juniper Montage were huddled together around Juniper’s red folding chair, three familiar faces amidst all the new hires.
“Is everything set up for the effects and stunts, Pinkie?” Juniper asked.
“Yep!” Pinkie declared. “The firebombs are all rigged, and the crash pads in position! Those are my favorite; they’re like bouncy castles for crazy adults!”
“And you can have sex on top of them after hours,” Adagio pointed out, sultrily. The effect was pronounced by her own outfit, a sharp black military uniform with red accents, perfect for a villainess, her hair stuffed under a matching cap.
Sunset, though, was unaffected, her words merely reminding her of something. “Hey, Adagio, I’ve been meaning to ask you; why’d you even agree to this at all? We told you about the portal, you could have gone home, instead of working with me.”
“I could have, and I do still have some resentment for you, but, well, I’m used to this world now.” With a coy smirk, she tossed her head and posed. “Besides, Aria and I make the perfect actresses. We have centuries of experience fooling people, as well as ageless bodies. Not to mention the adoration, of course.”
Sunset tilted her head back and forth a little, eventually grinning. “Makes sense to me.”
“I’m still grateful you guys let me direct,” interjected Juniper, tapping her copy of the script against her leg. “I mean, this is such a big chance we’re all taking. For Fluttershy, especially, to trust me to bring her work to life, after everything…”
“You were the most qualified,” Sunset reassured her. “We’re all contributing in the best way we can. That’s teamwork in a nutshell. Or, rather, friendship.”
“Right,” Juniper said, smiling. “I’m just glad I can still hang out with Aria, and don’t have to deal with all the Beanis stress anymore.”
With a smile of her own, Sunset stood back and watched as everybody took their places. She’d get back to work with Twilight soon. Just this once, she wanted to be there as the magic happened.
In the middle of the cordoned-off road, two mecha stood opposed, ready to act out a choreographed conflict. Aria and her male co-lead from the acting guild made their way into Blazing Lady, psyching themselves up to be the heroes. At the same time, Adagio and Pinkie vaulted into Memgaryen, the latter happy to serve as the unseen co-pilot. Microphones were raised, equipment brought to bear. The camera crew also got into position, lenses aimed and rolling.
Juniper raised a finger before dropping it as she called out “Aaand, action!”